Reed Hastings claims that all Internet apps on Comcast count against the data cap except Xfinity

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has a bone to pick with Comcast. Hastings made a Facebook post yesterday saying that Comcast is failing to follow net neutrality principles due to its unfair favoritism toward its own on-demand Xfinity service.

Comcast, as an internet service provider (ISP), places data caps on video services. When services like Netflix and Hulu are used, it counts against the cap. However, Hastings found that not all internet apps are created equal -- at least not where Comcast is concerned.

Hastings made this discovery over the weekend when watching internet video apps like Netflix, Xfinity, HBO Go, and Hulu through his Xbox 360. When playing any of the apps other than Xfinity, it counted against the data cap. But when Xfinity was used, it didn't count against the Internet cap at all.

"When I watch video on my Xbox from three of these four apps, it counts against my Comcast internet cap," said Hastings' Facebook post. "When I watch through Comcast's Xfinity app, however, it does not count against my Comcast internet cap.

"For example, if I watch last night's SNL episode on my Xbox through the Hulu app, it eats up about one gigabyte of my cap, but if I watch that same episode through the Xfinity Xbox app, it doesn't use up my cap at all.

"In what way is this neutral?"

Comcast defended itself by saying that the Xfinity service is delivered over its private IP network, not the public internet.

I feel he has a legitimate beef, but he handled this REALLY poorly. The fact of the matter is, Xfinity is pure SHIT, and in no way can possibly hope to compete with Netflix. And instead of giving Comcast a free plug and acting threatened by it, he should have used the opportunity to stress how inferior Comcast's service is.

Most Comcast users who want to view videos online and do not have a Netflix account will instead use Xfinity not because it is a better service, but because they do not want to "waste" their bandwidth.

Since Comcast is a major provider of network access, bundling their competing service is akin to Microsoft bundling MS Office with Windows.